Both Djokovic and Nadal have threatened to boycott next year's tournament unless the surface is changed and when these two speak out, tennis tends to listen.

However Federer sees things slightly differently. While Djokovic and Nadal have a more punishing style of play which involves plenty of brutal rallies from the back of the court, Federer favours a more fluid, attacking style of play and as a result his game has been less affected by the slippy courts.

"If you want to be a good claycourt player, you must be able to play everywhere," Federer said after beating David Ferrer in straight sets in their quarter-finals. "Madrid has taken a gamble with blue clay. It's always a little different here because of the altitude and we must sit down with the other players to discuss it. It is slippy, there's no doubt about that but that has been the case here for a few years. They haven't yet found the perfect balance. Our job each day is to adapt to the conditions that we face."

Tournament advisor Ion Tiriac, the man behind the change to blue clay, made a public apology to the players earlier today. Tiriac insisted that the clay will remain blue next year but work will be done to try and make movement on the surface easier.